Abstract Catastrophe
by Ven'sPen
Summary: Dave is a regular student in England, dreaming of making it big as an artist. Lissa, the 'resident bitch' is the school's It Girl and won't relent in teasing him. And then there's Ira, the mystery girl who saved him from a Witch. All OCs, no cameos. Minor language/violence. Rating may up.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I finished re-watching Madoka Magica a few hours ago, and decided to get writing. This fic has nothing to do with the original series, I just really like the concept of the show and the world it's set in. Kyubey is obviously involved, but it's not the same one, and there won't be any cameos I'm afraid. But I hope you enjoy it still.^^**

 **Chapter One:**

Dave Gordon dashed through the crowd haphazardly. If he missed his first lesson, he had failed. He had ten minutes before the lesson ended, and Mr Hopkins started to hand out the entry forms. Dave crashed into a bald man who had been purchasing an ice cream from a food van. The ice cream fell out of his hand and landed with a splat on the ground. A small girl nearby immediately started crying, but Dave was already running away. He could hear the man shouting after him, but he couldn't afford to care. He needed that entry form. It was for an art competition. The winner would be given a scholarship to one of the most prestigious art colleges in England. Dave's father clearly wanted him to one day take over his funeral care business, but Dave had other plans.

The bell was ringing as Dave arrived. He was running out of energy but he increased his pace anyway. Dave crashed through the classroom door, causing Mr Hopkins to turn and scowl at him.

"Gordon, there's no need to make an entrance," he tutted, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Sorry, sir," Dave panted, leaning on the door frame. "I ran here."

The class tittered, and Dave could see the class's 'resident bitch', Melissa Adams, whispering to one of her lackeys. He made a point of bumping her shoulder as he walked past and took his seat behind her.

"Anyway, class, we just got in the entry forms to the art competition," Mr Hopkins announced, making Dave sigh with relief. "Take one from my desk as you leave, if you wish to enter."

The class got up and started packing their things up. Dave went straight to the front desk and reached for a form. He was pushed aside by Laura, Lissa's closest friend.

"Watch it, freak," she snarled at him.

"Watch it, yourself," Dave growled.

"Laura, do you have my form?" Lissa asked behind them.

Laura handed Lissa the form proudly, like a retriever that finally found a tennis ball.

"Are you sure you want to enter, David?" Lissa sneered. "I have such an advantage over you."

"Advantage?" Dave said gruffly, examining his own form.

"I'm actually talented, of course," Lissa replied with a mischievous look to her otherwise dull brown eyes.

"Right," Dave said simply, pushing past her to get his bag from his desk.

Laura was giggling at something Lissa was saying as he left, but he couldn't be bothered to care. He was always careful around Lissa. She was easy to piss off, and too popular for him to make an enemy of. Although she had already made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. He had learnt in the first few days of school that if he brought up the scar on her face she would punch him; and she was surprisingly strong. It started at her brow and ran across her nose and cheek, and Lissa was clearly insecure about it.

After school had finished, Dave left as soon as he could. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He began to jog home. He thought about what he should do for the competition. As he walked, his head dropped. Soon, he was no longer paying attention to where he was going. Lissa's words rang through his head.

" _Are you sure you want to enter, David?"_

"Am I sure?" He mumbled to himself, without realising he had spoken aloud.

" _Are you sure you won't fail, David?"_

"I might fail," he murmured slowly, his steps were slow and his feet dragged across the floor.

" _What will happen if you fail, David?"_

David didn't reply to this. It wasn't Lissa's voice anymore. This voice was worse. Slowly, he came to his senses and looked around. But he had clearly taken a wrong turn. In fact, he doubted he was even in England anymore. All around him were abstract shapes and bright colours. Silhouetted babies in white nappies danced around him, and waterfalls of milk poured off cliffs. He rubbed his eyes to be sure he was really seeing it, but it was real.

A flash of green shot past him. He cried out as one of the nappy babies grabbed his trouser leg, and he dropped his rucksack. The green flash went whizzed past and knocked the nappy baby flying. It stopped before him, and he realised it was a girl. She wore a dark green, high waisted skirt, and a pale green blouse tucked into it. Her face was freckled, and her brown hair was long and unkempt.

"Follow me, I need to get you out of here," she instructed him, and started to run back the way he came.

Dave sprinted after her, panting with every step he took. All around him things were moving, he couldn't tell what was alive and what wasn't. Even the walls seemed to live. Coloured building blocks with letters and numbers on them were whizzing through the air, and some even came close to hitting him.

When a bright light appeared ahead of them, Dave knew instinctively that it was a good thing. The girl stopped beside it and turned to wait for him.

"Go through the light, and go home," she ordered him. "Nobody will believe you, so don't bother telling anybody."

"But, my bag," he protested. "It has my sketch book in it."

"That's not important," she snapped. "Get out of here, I don't need any collateral damage."

He did as he was told and stepped through the light, and realised he was standing in the street like normal. He turned to face the portal. It was just a mess of shadows and faint colour. He debated waiting for the girl to return, but figured she'd be mad if he did. Reluctantly, he went home. He knew he wouldn't sleep that night. The image of the girl refused to vacate his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

As expected, his sleep had been terrible. He spent the night tossing and turning, every time he closed his eyes those silhouetted babies bombarded him with insults and requests to destroy himself. That feeling of hopelessness he had felt in the colourful world returned, so at dawn he had dragged himself out of bed and started painting. At first, he was just flinging paint at the canvas, but then they had started to take shape. Black splodges became tiny infants with the more detail he gave them. He started to paint the blocks in the background, carefully detailing them with random letters or numbers. Once he'd realised what he was painting, the sun had risen fully and he was running late for school. He was tempted not to go, because he was afraid that the sudden inspiration would leave while he was distracted by the day, but he knew he should.

So, he pulled on his uniform and skipped breakfast, then left to jog to school. He'd be late if he walked, but he was too tired to run. The other students had already gone inside when he got there. Before he had a chance to follow them, he noticed a girl watching from across the street. She was holding a rucksack. As he looked closer he realised it was his.

"Hey," he called out, but she had put down his bag and was already retreating.

She was dressed in regular clothes, but she was definitely the girl from before. She started to run as he reached his bag. Dave wanted to follow, but he was already late for school, so he let her go. He picked up his rucksack and started back toward the school.

Once he reached his classroom, Mr Hopkins had already started the register. He nodded at his teacher as he entered the room, and Mr Hopkins rolled his eyes and continued the register. Dave's desk folded out of the floor and he took his seat, ignoring Lissa and Laura's giggling in front of him. Throughout the day Dave had to wake himself up. Mr Hopkins' voice was dull and lifeless, and Dave couldn't help but doze off listening to him drone on.

"Dave's fallen asleep," Laura exclaimed, causing Dave to stir.

He raised his head slowly and came face to face with Lissa, who had been examining his sleeping face.

"What's the matter, want a kiss?" He smirked, causing her to jump backwards.

"Hell no, you wish," she cried indignantly, but she turned red all the same.

"Oh my god, you do!" He realised, and whooped smugly.

Most of the class had folded their desks down and were leaving to go home, and Mr Hopkins was looking through some paperwork distractedly.

"Don't flatter yourself," Lissa said coldly. "Who would want a lazy prick like you?"

"For your information, I was up all night painting," he fumed, now Dave was turning red.

"What for?" She sneered. "You've already lost the competition, so you may as shove your 'art' up your-"

"Melissa Adams!" Mr Hopkins said sharply, and Laura giggled.

"Freak," she muttered, and left with Laura close behind.

Dave sighed and went to pick up his own bag, realising that Lissa had left her bag behind.

He was tempted to steal it. Lissa was a nasty bitch and she certainly deserved it, especially after tormenting him about his art so much. But he also knew she kept her own sketchbook on her at all times, and he knew how sentimental it was to her. Mr Hopkins was too busy leaving to notice Dave had Lissa's bag, so Dave risked a glance inside. The sketchbook was right there, so he reached in and grabbed it. As he flicked through, he was impressed. She mainly used chalk and oil pastels, and her colour blending was incredible. She mainly did portraits; most of them were of Laura. He stopped when he realised there was one of him. Unlike the others, she had sketched his face in black and white, but it was definitely him. She had drawn him so miserable and sullen, and he found he was disappointed that she saw him this way. The more he looked, the more he was impressed. He wanted to hate it, but found he couldn't, so he turned the page and dropped the sketchbook in shock.

He couldn't believe it. They were almost identical. The silhouetted babies, the playing blocks, the mass of colour and arbitrary shapes behind them, all recorded in the book in chalk.

"What's gotten into you?" Lissa asked disinterestedly. "Have you seen my bag?"

"It's impossible," Dave murmured. "How could you know?"

"Know what?" Lissa said squarely, she was reaching for her bag.

"I only painted it this morning," Dave breathed, looking up from where the sketchbook lay open on the floor.

"Painted what?" She peered over the edge of his desk and gasped.

Lissa darted round the desk and snatched up her sketchbook, snapping it closed.

"That's private, freak!" She screamed. "Never look in there, do you understand?!"

"Whoa, chill out," Dave said, backing away even further. "If anyone should feel invaded, it's me."

"You?!" She screeched. "How dare-"

"You're the one watching me sleep," he cried. "Unless you have another explanation as to how we conveniently drew the same thing?"

She stopped and frowned at him.

"Show me," she demanded angrily.

"Fine." He shrugged.

He led her back to his house in silence. The walk was uncomfortable, and neither of them wanted to make any attempt at conversation. She kept sighing and Dave was relieved when they reached his front door. His dad would be at work, but Dave didn't know if that was good or bad. He didn't want to be alone with Lissa, but he also didn't want his dad to think something was going on between them. He hastily unlocked the front door and held it open for her. Then he showed her upstairs to his bedroom.

She frowned at him suspiciously as she entered, and he rolled his eyes again. Then her eyes locked onto the canvas, sitting proudly on its easel.

"You were in a Witch's Labyrinth," she gasped.

"It's not finished yet, but that's basically what I saw," he muttered, walking past her and examining the canvas.

"You were there," she realised slowly. "She was talking about you."

"The green girl?" Dave pressed. "She showed me the way out, and brought me my stuff this morning."

"She said a boy had been trapped in the Labyrinth before I showed up," Lissa explained. "Her name is Ira."

"Cool name," Dave thought aloud, and Lissa scowled at him.

"You should forget about it all," she told him. "Trust me, it's easier that way."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I feel like a short chapter doesn't make up for the delay in posting this update. But since the previous one, I've gotten two jobs, a throat infection, a spent a week dog-sitting for a friend who visited Spain. Oh, and my other ongoing Fic for Miraculous Ladybug, which I've been trying to update on a relatively frequent basis (shameless self-promotion, sorry) but hopefully posting this one will give me that little nudge to write more for Abstract Catastrophe. ~Ven.**

 **Chapter Three:**

It was a full week before Lissa spoke to Dave again; and two more weeks until they had to hand in their art pieces for the competition. Lissa had completely blanked him, she hadn't even mocked him during school. To Dave's surprise, he found himself missing her snide remarks. She had left after seeing his art piece, and he didn't have the heart to finish it. It was a reminder of the 'Labyrinth' as Lissa had called it, and he didn't want to dwell anymore on shadowed figures whispering sweet words of suicide to him. So he'd covered it with a cloth and left it there, but still he could not sleep.

As usual, Dave was late to school, and he knew if he didn't get his attendance back up the school would ring his father. He hurried through the school gates, and bounded toward the front doors. He found himself thinking of Lissa's words as he rushed to get to class. 'She was talking about you,' she had said. She was in the Labyrinth, too. He made up his mind to ask her, deciding he would push through all the low belt insults she could hurl at him, he needed to know.

His classmates were busy working in silence when he entered it. He sighed inwardly, he had been hoping for a busy lesson so that he could talk to Lissa. She was busy scribbling rapidly into her note book, and didn't seem to notice Dave enter.

"David, nice of you to join us," Mr Hopkins remarked, gesturing to Dave's folded up desk.

He set about unfolding his desk and taking his seat.

"Page 46 in the Science text book, answer the questions," Mr Hopkins said. "Silence please, I'd like to think."

Dave opened the text book and sighed at the long list of Biology questions. He started to fiddle with his pencil, and stared at the back of Lissa's head.

Mr Hopkins, who was staring at a polaroid in his hand, didn't notice Dave tossing a scrunched up piece of paper at Lissa's head. A note which read: ' _bitch, stop ignoring me_ ' on it. Lissa rubbed the back of her head as the note dropped to the floor, and turned round. Kevin Jenkins, who sat in the desk behind her, shrugged and pointed at the note on the floor. Dave, who sat behind Kevin Jenkins, watched expectantly. Lissa opened the note and stuck her tongue out at him.

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Lissa was on her feet. Mr Hopkins hastily put away the picture and cleared his throat.

"Anything you didn't finish is home work, class dismissed," he looked like he was tearing up.

Lissa stormed over to Dave's desk and slammed his text book closed. Dave drew back his hands and glared up at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" She raged. "Passing notes to me, people will think we're friends!"

"Oh, but Melissa, we're BFFs, aren't we?" Dave teased, folding his arms across his chest.

"I don't have time to pay attention to your childish behaviour, David," she growled.

Most of their classmates were looking at them, or trying to disguise the fact that they were looking at them, and Dave realised they had been talking rather loudly.

Lissa sighed and turned to walk away. She hastily grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room, and Dave cursed himself for not being prepared.

"Trouble is paradise, Dave?" Someone jeered, but Dave ignored him.

He quickly gathered up his stuff and shoved it into his bag, before sprinting out of the classroom. He was vaguely aware that his actions towards Lissa would make people think he fancied her, but he didn't care about that right now. His desire to know more about the Labyrinth and the girl dressed in green was stronger than his desire to hate Lissa.

He found her outside the front gates, looking down at something in her hand. Dave approached silently, and was surprised that Lissa didn't notice him. As he got closer, he could see the gem in her hand. Its colour was hidden by a swirling blackness inside it, and Lissa seemed upset.

"Are you okay?" He asked, making her jump.

"What do you care?" She snapped, instinctively clenching her fist around the gem and holding it away from him.

"I don't want that, it's clearly important to you," he shrugged, and she shot him a confused look. "I just want to know what happened in that 'Labyrinth,' was that what it was called?"

"You don't need to be involved in this," she replied, trying to keep her voice even.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he cried, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I've barely slept since that day. I can't even paint, because all I paint is that mess of... of whatever the hell it was. What little sleep I do get is ruined by dreams of babies telling me I'm worthless and I should just go and die. So, yeah, I think I have a right to know."

She took a deep breath and moved away from him and the school. Then she started to walk away, and Dave followed her. His attendance would suffer even more, and he was sure to be in trouble, but he didn't want to think about it.

"Where are you going?" He asked, as he trotted along behind her.

"I need to kill one of those things," she replied. "Assuming she hasn't got them all, before me."

"Who?" Dave asked dumbly, then he realised she must have meant the girl in green.


End file.
